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Georgia Southern sends most every to track regionals

Georgia Southern will send its highest number of track and field student-athletes to compete in three events, also a program high, to the NCAA East Regional outdoor prelininaries next week in Jacksonville, Florida. The Eagles’ 4x100m Relay team of Alyssa Felton, Jasmin Walker, Aarian Tipton and Jordan Fordman, which set the SoCon and University record last month, heads into the national qualifier ranked ninth in the region. Walker, a five-time Long Jump conference champion, and Tipton, who broke Georgia Southern’s record in the 200m with a 23.59, will compete in those individual events.“For Georgia Southern to have the highest number of NCAA regional qualifiers and in the highest number of events is so exciting for our entire program,” said Head Track and Field Coach Marlo Mincey. “If we do next week what we did to get to this point, we’ll be headed to the national championships.”Tipton’s trip to the NCAA East Regional meet is the first for an Eagle in the 200m event since 2003 when Giselle Cunningham set the then-University record with a time of 23.98. Walker, who brings a 6.14m Long Jump distance, second all time in program history, and the 4x100m Relay will be making first-ever appearances for Georgia Southern in those events.The NCAA Division I East Preliminary Track & Field Round will be held at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida, a site at which the Eagles competed in March. Walker will compete in the Long Jump Thursday and Tipton in the 200m on Friday. The 4X100m Relay is scheduled for May 31.The qualifiers in each individual event and the relays in both the East and West Regions advance to the NCAA national championships June 11-14 in Eugene, Oregon.